Responsible legislators and executives fully fund their crucial expenditures. Recognizing the significance crime plays as a barrier to Detroit’s revitalization and the general well-being of citizens and visitors alike, it is reckless to underfund the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office.

Prosecutor Kym Worthy’s office is so underfunded that she lacks the necessary staff to investigate cases and obtain arrest warrants. This puts us at a significantly higher risk of danger because we know there are lawbreakers running free throughout our communities. Worthy estimates that 40 murderers, 180 child abusers and 150 sexual predators are not in the process of being brought to justice as a result of her office’s lack of funds. She lost 61 attorneys as a result of the county’s refusal to adequately appropriate dollars for her use.

The Wayne County Commission and Wayne County Executive Bob Ficano must free up emergency money so the office may begin to run effectively. To do anything less would be a severe dereliction of duties, particularly considering how much was allocated for and spent on a planned new jail facility.

Last year, I was appointed to a statewide bipartisan task force, called the Indigent Defense Commission, comprised of legislators, prosecuting and defense attorneys, judges, justice advocates and other stakeholders in the legal community. Our work focused on improving county public defender offices across the state and ensuring a minimum floor of parity across the state’s 83 counties. Many times, members of this task force from across the state were bewildered at how such a large county can operate with such paltry appropriations — Worthy’s colleagues from across the country shared the same sentiment with her in Washington, D.C., last month.

The sad reality is that the office cannot function properly while lacking so much necessary funding. There are suspects whose cases have been investigated by the police already, but since Worthy’s office has not had the resources to file charges in the case after a review, these potentially dangerous individuals are free to move as they please throughout our neighborhoods.

Ficano and the Wayne County Commission must work together and with Worthy to provide the dollars needed for her to effectively run her office. The safety of our children and seniors, the strength of our neighborhoods and communities, and the improved quality of life we all wish to enjoy in Detroit, and Wayne County, are dependent upon this issue being promptly resolved.

Bert Johnson, a Democrat from Detroit, represents Michigan’s 2nd District in the Michigan Senate.